Bias against aged patients claim

Around half of doctors discriminate against older patients because of their age, according to new research.

A study found that elderly patients with angina were less likely to be prescribed a statin to lower their cholesterol, given appropriate tests, or to be offered surgical treatments.

They were more likely to have their current prescriptions changed and to be told to come back later, it found.

The survey, published in the journal Quality and Safety in Health Care, found patients over 65 were managed differently from those who were younger.

Twenty-eight general practitioners, 28 elderly care specialists and 29 cardiologists from across southern England and the Midlands were questioned. A total of 72 fictional patients with angina were presented to the doctors as part of a specially-created computer programme, and the doctors were interviewed.

The fictional patients were all aged between 45 and 92, with varying degrees of heart problems. Photographs of the patients were also provided.

Overall, the study found that older patients were less likely to be referred to a cardiologist and given an angiogram or exercise tolerance tests compared to middle-aged patients. They were also less likely to be offered revascularisation (opening up of blood vessels).

The face-to-face interviews revealed various reasons for differences in treatment, including a patient's wishes, potential complications of treatment and whether the patients were frail.

One doctor told researchers: "I'd like to think that I would treat the individual. I think generally you have to try and identify from an individual what is in their best interests. I don't think bypass surgery in an 87-year-old is in their interests."

The authors, from University College London, noted that those doctors who were influenced by age were on average five years older than those who were not. They concluded: "Age, independent of comorbidity, presentation and patients' wishes, directly influenced decision-making about angina investigation and treatment by half of the doctors in the primary and secondary care samples."